HoneyHeroes! is a holistic concept geared towards the individual needs of the child. The focus is on providing outreach psychotherapeutic care for refugee children at their school as well as involving their parents and teachers.
Some children sleep poorly, have difficulty concentrating, get angry and sad easily, or have anxiety that limits them. In behavioural therapy, art therapy and psychosocial group activities, the children learn to come to terms with their experiences and regain a feeling of security and stability. In the therapy sessions, we help them understand: ‘What you are feeling is a normal reaction to an abnormal event.’
In addition to their experiences, the treatment also focuses on the children’s individual strengths and resources.
Together with the children, their families, their teachers and other important people in their lives, we want to build on these and help them to deal with stress more confidently in the future. Our common goal is to enable children to process the past and face the future as strong, confident and composed individuals.
We provide care for children, who …
… have a migrant background.
… have parents with a migrant background (transgenerational trauma).
… are showing signs of mental stress in everyday school life, e.g. due to sleep deprivation, concentration difficulties, flashbacks.
… are outside the professional support system.
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Register a child
We lived in a house. (…) Then thieves came and killed my sister. I was angry. I was asleep and didn’t hear anything.
For me, it’s not about leading a happy life, how is that even possible? But I hope at least to be able to enjoy a spark of happiness and the odd beautiful moment every now and then in defiance of those who murdered my loved ones.
I often think I’m going crazy and cannot do anything about it.
I really loved my parents. My dad always used to joke around with me and we played together. My mum was a wonderful cook. I sometimes try to cook like that, but then I get sad and the food no longer tastes of anything.
Nine-year-old Amin is Syrian by birth. The family of five initially flee to Turkey and have to travel long distances on foot. During the crossing from Turkey to Greece, their overcrowded boat almost capsizes. In Greece, the family live in a large refugee camp for a few months before heading to Germany, sometimes on foot.
The diagnosis forms the basis that determines the course the therapy should take. In several meetings, the child’s current situation and emotional life are described and the reasons for consulting a psychotherapist are determined. An individual treatment plan can be drawn up on the basis of the diagnoses.
The focus during the stabilisation phase is on building a trusting relationship with the therapist. The child (and his/her parents) receive detailed information about the symptoms, their causes and possible treatment (psycho-educational intervention).
The next step in the therapy involves processing the trauma (trauma exposure). Here, memories, thoughts and images related to the traumatic event should be discussed and contextualised. The trauma confrontation only begins when the child feels safe enough and ready. The child also has the option to say ‘Stop’ at any time and discontinue the exercise.
After confronting the trauma, the integration phase is the final building block of trauma therapy. This is where the child learns to deal with his or her experiences in everyday life and arrive in the ‘here and now’. In this phase, other issues that have been masked by the trauma can also be worked on.
The conclusion of the therapy takes the form of a smooth transition into normal everyday life – without therapy. This is where individual stages of the therapy are reviewed and evaluated. Post-therapy goals should also be discussed, along with ways of how they can be achieved.
